Lesbians Without the Lipstick
by Paper Lanterns And Yogurt
Summary: Tenten starts going out with Hinata and suddenly Neji has to deal with a lot more than a broken heart. Stupid AU.
1. They're dating!

It was a particularly tepid October day. Leaves had already turned golden brown and ruby umber. There was a breeze, but it was warm and didn't provide much comfort. He remembers, because even though he and his best friend Lee were in an air-conditioned room, he was sweating and tingly all over.

"This is sadder than the time you tried to get that turtle to swim out of the puddle," Neji commented as he clicked away on the laptop he had placed on the desk. He was towering over it, tapping at the keys in a rhythm that was definitely not the sound of an essay being written.

Lee looked over at him from his seat on the opposite side of the desk, his english homework taking up the remaining space. "The one that had its back legs eaten by a seagull and drowned because it couldn't keep its head up?" Neji nodded, eyes still locked on to the screen before him. Lee frowned. "I cried for hours, and you just walked away. I gave him a funeral and everything, I even got a turtle-patterned tie to commemorate his valiantly youthful death."

Neji made a sound almost like a bulldog snorting, but he was too graceful to do such a thing. A graceful bulldog... maybe. Lee was glad that Neji was so focused on his laptop so he could not see him stifling his chuckles. He could hear them though.

"What are you laughing about?" Neji said, sparing no glance or peek to what Lee was doing. He was mildly dyslexic, not a cripple.

"Oh, just wondering how long you have been spending on your laptop recently!" Lee exclaimed hurriedly as cover up. "Certainly you are not doing youthful homework, because you don't stare at it so intently!"

He had lied, to spare himself the bodily harm of telling Neji the truth. But the surprised look on the genius' face made him realize that he had just struck up something interesting. Neji leaned back in his chair, having not realizing he had leaned in so close. He looked like a kid being caught taking a cookie from the jar, jaw tensed and eyes turning a shade darker. He tapped a few keys in haste before closing his laptop resolutely and pulling out his own homework. A weighted silence fell upon the close-knit comrades.

Lee felt a bit awkward about it. He hadn't meant to bring up what Neji did on his laptop, but he had somehow uncovered something scandalous about his friend. It was like walking in on him naked, though probably not as life-scarring. Neji is a nice looking guy, no lie, it's just that Lee isn't into men _like_ that and even if he was the fact that he had known Neji since he was five turned down the whole 'attracted to an alabaster statue shaped like Adonis' down a few notches and... okay, train of thought derailing. Lee fidgeted from the tension he had wrought. Neji appeared as passive as ever, though the tightening of his shoulders was an indication to not being all comfortable.

A nervous cough. Two eyes met, one hardening like a snowstorm, the other widening like the enormous wings of a pesky crow. A mouth opened and the other sealed -

"Hey guys! Have you seen Hinata?"

Tenten walked on, her own cherry red laptop tucked underneath her arm. It would have been the same dull grey Neji's was or the rainbow or lime distaster Ino had wanted to give her, but thankfully sensible Sakura picked out something more suiting to her tastes.

Neji shook his head, but began speaking to avoid the conversation with an expecting Lee. "Not since AP World History."

Blowing her long bangs out of her face, Tenten grumbled, "But she promised she'd do it at lunch! Maybe she got stage-fright..." The brunette girl nodded in consent though and turned to walk out. Lee watched her, expecting to begin his perusal upon Neji's inner secrets once they were left in the sanctity of what Lee had dubbed the 'Man Cave'. It was really the classroom the teacher Might Gai used when having to teach students about health education. Because Lee is his protoge he is allowed access during lunch unsupervised. Partially because Gai knows Lee and Neji wouldn't dare do anything scandalous, but mostly so he can sneak off and challenge Kakashi to ridiculous competitions.

But being a clever genius, Neji saw the way Lee's eyebrows twitched and furrowed, drawing together to create one singular, massive brow. He hastily picked up his homework, dumping it into his bag as he said, "I will help you find her, Tenten."

Visibly surprised by this, Tenten waved her hand in the air with a quick shake of her head. "N-no need! I just have to ask her something... important... regarding... an important issue for us! It's really girly, it wouldn't concern you!" She said so all in haste, very suspicious.

Neji shook his head stubbornly, determined to avoid Lee and the fat bushy caterpillar above his eyes that were giving white-eyed male the creepiest of interrogating looks only the likes of Ibiki their Drama teacher could have performed. "Hinata is my dearest cousin. Any important issue concerning her concerns me as well."

"You're not going to like it," Tenten murmured, inching for the entrance. Neji quirked an eyebrow, taking a step closer. Tenten rubbed the back of her head nervously, looking anywhere but him as if trying to draw an excuse from the air around them. "_Trust me_," she said as firmly as she could. "This is between Hinata and me. It doesn't even concern Ino or Sakura or Temari, much less you."

Now Neji was genuinely curious. He gave his other best friend a pointed expression, crossing his arms over his chest. Out of all of the male students, he was the only one who wore a biege blazer with the sleeves rolled up. "It does matter. Hinata is not the best in her judgement. She follows her heart too much. I will be there to correct any false assumptions she makes."

Frowning, the brown-eyed girl huffed and placed her arms akimbo at her waist, suddenly upset. "You can't make her decisions for her. This is Hinata's decision. It's not yours or mine or even your uncle." She cut off quickly there, turning and leaving with an annoyed, "You better not follow me!" as she hurried down the hallway.

A bit stunned by the harshness, Neji turned to Lee who was a mix between questioning him and questioning Tenten. She was never one to get so uppity, especially with Neji whom she had always respected despite him being a 'sorta nasty isolated jerk' as Naruto would proclaim. "Maybe we should follow her," Lee supplied, deciding to be more worried about the girl he treated like a sister. Neji's pestering would have to come later. With a nod in affirmation, Neji waited for his bowl cut friend to gather his belongings before they doggedly began trailing their long-time female companion.

She was usually so aware, but even when they were in the same hallway she couldn't hear the squeak of Lee's sneakers of the brisk skip of Neji's loafers. This furthered their worry as they followed her to the center of the school. She paced uneasily, as if waiting for a hand to grab at her from out of nowhere. Even down the stairs she took them nearly three at a time, flying down them with an ease only one who attended as many extensive sports as she did could achieve. Once outside she darted her head about to and fro like a wary deer sensing approaching danger. What could have riled Tenten up so much?

Lee thought about the past few days. Sure they had trouble with homework and him not attracting lovely Sakura's attention, but none of it was connected. It was something about Hinata. As far as he knew, Tenten and Hinata were good friends, but there wasn't a thing he could think of that would cause any friction between them. Their friendship was better than Sakura and Ino's intense rivalry, or Ino and Temari's duel for Shikamaru's affections. Hinata was the peaceful calm Tenten enjoyed but didn't have much of. Sure Neji was quiet, but he didn't make people feel at home. Most of her friends were either too energetic or exuberant to hold a nice silence with, and the only other person who might have indulged her in a warm, mute togetherness would end up asleep and snoring as the clouds drifted by.

Neji, meanwhile, was going down the mental list of the two most important females in his life to find out which was the emotional trainwreck. Tenten could just as easily be seeking Hinata's comfort as earnestly in giving her own. She tended to blend into the background because she was always helping others shine, usually without a word of thanks because a day fulfilled was enough for her. She did have times where she felt worthless... but usually he was there to help instead of Hinata... She didn't have boy problems, did she?

Shaking his head, Neji moved on to his cousin. Her sister was nearly outclassing her in their father's eyes, who was strict and didn't show a lot of affection even though he cared deeply for his daughters. Hinata had known no other life though, but the stress she was enduring could be more than usual. Maybe she had learned that her long-time crush Naruto would be an unsuitable love interest in the eyes of Hiashi? Neji snorted, a likely thought.

He was prepared to tell Hinata that furthering such a dismal relationship was going to be doomed from the start and end in many tears. It didn't matter if Naruto beat him once in a martial arts match - it was a fluke even if it did dislodge the proverbial stick from his ass - Naruto is dead last when it comes to _any_ suitor Hinata should desire. Tenten probably knows this to, and though he thanks her for letting his cousin down easily, Hinata should not be coddled or held like an infant. She needs to grow a backbone and do something with her life. Something -

Neji watched as Tenten finally found Hinata shuffling around in the middle of the quad, many students just getting back from lunch. Their eyes met, and they surged forward as if a burst of energy was given to them.

Neji watched as Tenten and Hinata confidently strode together, looks of determination flashing within his cousin's usually wide and meek white eyes from where he stood. He and Lee had halted in their pursuit and found themselves hiding on the sidelines as people took note of the charged feeling in the air. Heads turned towards the two females, some of which belonged to people Neji knew such as Ino, Kiba, Naruto, and Shikamaru.

Neji watched and his eyes nearly burst out of his head as his best female friend grabbed hold of his closest family member and dipped her like a sultry dance partner. It felt like the air had stopped, a bolt of electricity running through it as everyone was suddenly watching the spectacle.

In the sudden stillness, Tenten said quiet loudly, "Pucker up sweet cheeks!" and lip-locked Hinata like a puma would its maimed prey. To everyone's shock and mild arousal, Hinata looped her arms around Tenten and kissed back just as fiercely, their eyes both closed as their tongues could be seen and teeth could be heard clashing against one another.

People gasped. Shrieks were heard. Woolf-whistles and hooting abounded. Anko just dropped her coffee.

Neji felt like the lump of coal he called a heart just broke as he watched his painfully shy little cousin have the most intense make-out session with the spunky bun-haired girl of his dreams like they had been doing it forever. And it was a lot sadder than watching Lee get traumatized over a stupid turtle.


	2. They're dating?

They've apparently been 'going out' for two weeks in secret. Both had agreed to make it official to the whole school with their scandalous PDA - which got them lunch detention for a month; separately.

For the first three "public" weeks of their "relationship" - because it was such a giant curveball to the school, and the entire city by proxy, that many still didn't believe it - Tenten presented Hinata very open demonstrations of her feelings to her significant other each Thursday. The first, she had gotten Hinata a large disk of chocolate in the shape of a smiley-face that they shared (and still have yet to fully devour). The second, she took Hinata to the beach after school on the motorcycle she had rented where they had a romantic picnic by the crashing waves and molten setting sun. And when the third week rolled by, Tenten serenaded Hinata when school ended at the nearby park; she sang all of Hinata's favorite bands while playing an old electric guitar. By now people were already clamoring like mad with questions abounding voraciously. Why Tenten? Why Hinata? Why every Thursday? The entire thing made girlfriends smack their boyfriends in jealousy every time the topic came up.

"I like Thursdays. Sounds really nifty, right?" Tenten had answered when asked about it one day, having become the talk of the town. Ino-Shika-Chou, members of the school newspaper, had been dogging the couple's trail since the beginning, so everything Tenten and Hinata did, Ino would get their opinion on while Shikamaru snapped pictures with his mother's borrowed - _stolen - _ nikon and Chouji edited the whole thing to make it all the more juicy to read.

On the most recent Thursday last week, the short month after Tenten kissed Hinata in the quad (which had quickly become known as The Kiss), Tenten went to school wearing a tuxedo-themed dress. She had never worn a dress before, simply boyish clothes that she threw on in the morning. No one even knew that she had 'lace' in her vocabulary when she strutted into first period. She barely escaped getting dress-coded when lunch came along, where she proudly found Hinata waiting for her near the place The Kiss happened, and got down on one knee in front of the entire school.

Everyone gasped. Girls whispered to each other, gushing of how romantic it was and how useless males were at being sweet. Guys on the other hand were hoping a hot make-out section would follow.

Tenten pulled out a velvety box from the breast pocket of her black vest, a red rose having hid it, and held it up to the Hyuuga Heiress. A collective intake of breath until she opened it and asked Hinata with an endearing grin, "Will you go to the movies with me?" Inside the box, instead of a ring, were movie tickets to the most recent biggest-hit. Hinata accepted it graciously, even though she probably could have gone to the movies for free - her family was such a big influence it was a surprise she didn't own the school - but she had accepted because it had come from her _girlfriend_.

Of course, pictures of Tenten and Hinata cozzying it up at the theaters appeared in the school paper that following Monday. Neji knew because Lee had personally slapped him in the face with it (metaphorically, not physically, for Lee would be in a lot of pain right now if that were true). Neji also knew because Hinata that night had asked to borrow his cellphone since Hanabi had taken hers again, and some money for her date before she left all dolled up with the simplicity yet elegance every Hyuuga was endowed with.

Neji looked like he had not only watched his world fall apart, but the dark bags under his eyes and his limp hair that was usually so immaculate, were a testament to his gloomy disposition. Lee was very worried about his friend, so much in fact, that he was unable to continue his inquiry about the other youth's laptop when the other practically collapsed in his chair during lunch, looking like he tried to pick a fight with a pole and lost miserably.

"Neji, are you not happy about our friend's and your cousin's youthful union?" Lee asked as he sat in the same room doing some more english homework; darn his learning disabilities! "They are the first same-sex relationship to become public in school, as well as one of the first in the city! It is a symbol of gay pride, and have inspired so many more couples with their astounding love!" His eyes turned into miniature red hearts as he envisioned the cheery couple just spending time together. In the park, at the mall, by the library. Oh how he wished he and the lovely Sakura could look so well-suited for one another!

"Hmmm," Neji grumbled, tapping away at his computer. At the way he seemed to be leaning away from the screen, Lee guessed he was not engaging in whatever secret activity he had done before on it. In fact, Neji rarely used his laptop anymore unless it was to type out an essay. Before The Kiss, he was always avidly on it, completely engrossed in what he was doing. Sometimes he would even appear close to smiling, but now his face had barely cracked out of its expressionless mask these past few weeks.

"Do you don't approve?" Lee ventured, silently biting his lower lip at the possibility. Sure, Lee wasn't homosexual (flamboyant, _yes_) but at least he really meant it when they said love conquers all.

Before he could protest his friend's unyouthful rejection of his best friend and cousion's relationship, Lee suddenly remembered what the name Hyuuga meant in their quaint little city. Neji and Hinata were directly related to the head of the family; Hinata's father was a very well-known figure in society, practically the second-mayor that ran a tight, well-rigged system which have kept any big crimes or problems from ever happening in his long thirty years of control. It is also known that Hiashi has not said a single thing about his eldest's daughter's choice in dating.

There was an impossibly high chance that Hiashi was against the relationship. And though Neji disliked the man's overbearing attitude, there was no way that he would approve if Neji blurted out his agreement on whom his cousin dated. In short: even if Neji was okay with same-sex relationships, his fear of what his uncle thought of them effectively stilted whatever viewpoints he could have had.

Dear lord, what must it be like to have come home and know that your menacing uncle was there ready to rip his own daughter to shreds for kissing another girl non-platonically. Lee mulled over this, irritably tapping the butt of his pencil against the hard desk.

With each little thump of the eraser, Neji's patience dwindled like a small creek rapidly drying up. He shot out of his chair, causing it to make a shrill sound when it skidded back. Lee watched, all with widely puzzled eyes as his good friend (and eternal rival, even if Neji refused to be called by such a title) stalked out of the room like his spine had been replaced with a metal bar. Neji usually got angry (mostly at him) and he always just a little bit ruffled when this happened, but never had Lee seen the young man appear so openly _distraught _that Lee assumed there was something more than what he had first imagined.

"I'm getting a drink," Neji supplied through a locked jaw, seeming to try and yank the door of the classroom off its hinges when he pushed it open. He disappeared down the hall with a flick of his long brown hair, audibly stomping with less grace than Lee had ever seen out of the guy many compared to a regal lion or hawk perched upon a thrown of ivory (out of the many metaphors his array of admirers had used).

The whole act of Neji's retreat was so hurried that it caused some of Lee's hazardous papers to flutter to the ground. He quickly got of his own chair to pick them up, placing them on the table without really thinking of where they would end up. By accident, his hand landed on the keyboard to Neji's laptop. Slowly Lee brought his gaze to the lit screen, only seeing what appeared to be a very dull and monotonous essay on the reasons why socialism collapsed in some country.

It was the standard setup the laptop came with. Neji didn't even bother changing the background, showing his impressive lacking in anything creative or expressionistic. Even though he had just stormed off, Lee cautiously peered out to the hallway as if Neji would suddenly poof into the room if he found his property being prodded through. Secure, but feeling a bit guilty, Lee tabbed out of Word while slightly wondering what had made Neji so happy until The Kiss, all his thoughts of Neji's hidden hobby resurfacing like a fish gone belly-up.

Neji's screen consisted of more essays and documents, outlandishly bland and nothing in a folder he could click through. After that, he searched the documents, and then the pictures, and the music - but only the basic sample folders were available (which Lee fruitlessly looked at too just in case). Search not over, Lee clicked on the browser Neji used and looked through the history. He immediately picked the one that should have held all of the sites Neji visited a month ago, precisely the time The Kiss took place.

He frowned when he realized Neji had deleted all of the contents.

_It is my personal mission to find what made Neji so happy!_ Lee thought to himself to help with the disappointment. The fire he was well known for sprang up in his eyes as he began searching for more recent data. _Surely, if I find out what it is, I can help Neji focus his thoughts away from his unyouthful, critical uncle!_ With renewed vigor, Lee scanned through the sites.

All of them pertained to research and studying. One was just an online book about an outlandishly dull look into the history of how paper was made.

Glancing to the still-empty doorframe his friend had stormed out of, Lee felt the back of his hairs on edge. Neji might have wanted his personal interests to stay private, and might have locked them up somewhere only he could access. It obviously wasn't pornography - mostly because Neji didn't seem like the guy, and also because he was able to use his laptop in class freely without a hint of appearing suspicious. It could just be some really stupid thing like an interest in reading fan-fiction, or a bookmark to some anime site - something embarrassing if caught enjoying but not outright filthy for purveying.

Hell, if Neji liked something like My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Lee wouldn't even question it.

He liked it too.

But a quick check proved that Neji didn't have any bookmarks to sites full of loving and tolerant bronies, nor of the amateur writings of twelve-year-olds girls that pertained to their favorite fictional characters. Running out of options, Lee finally looked down at the history of the sites Neji raked through today.

Only about twelve results. The history of socialism. How socialism proved useful. How socialism proved not-so useful. Minecraft. Why extreme socialism has ruined economies. A biography on Henri de Saint-Simon - _wait, what?_

Lee clicked the link to the oddly-named site. What he got was a very simple website involving a video, a picture of an oddly-shaped human with a pig and a sheep at his sides, and some feeds to various others sites. How queer.

Still wary of Neji entering any moment, Lee went to the header of the page and picked the option that told you about this 'game'.

What he read didn't surprise him. This Minecraft sounded inexplicably boring, but then again the fact that everything was made of blocks made it sound like Neji's kind of game. Because you had to download the game and buy it, Lee quickly deduced that Neji had already done those things, and deleted the window to go search through the downloads folder. His intuition was right, as he quickly found the shortcut to the game. It looked like a cubic chunk of dirt with some grass on it... what in the world could have made Neji so interested in such a game?

Lee giggled when he found Neji's username and password already in the required boxes. Not because Neji seemed to have played the game enough to warrant the act, but because his username was honestly "whizzkidd64". He became confused once again when he tried the 'singleplayer' option. It had a select world screen, but Neji didn't have any worlds to speak of. Either he deleted his previous one... or it didn't exist in the first place.

Going back to the main screen, Lee nervously picked the 'multiplayer' option instead after a moment of thought. Neji actually spent his time playing a game about blocks - with other people?

And to his surprise, there was a world available. And it was called '_Princess' Playground_'.

Lee didn't know what to make of it as he found he couldn't actually get on, but was too shocked to care. He quit the game, bringing the essay back up to the screen, and returned to his homework mutely.

Apparently Neji was a lot more youthful than he let on.

* * *

Neji felt as youthful as a sack of garbage right now.

He had wanted to get away from the whole 'my cousin is dating my best friend' topic that has been choking the air for the entire month of their relationship, but leave it to Lee to make the situation as ear-bleeding as possible.

Taking his words to heart, Neji did walk over to the quad to get a drink out of the vending machines, but on his way there he was stopped by practically ever student in school. Neji had to wade through them, being very rude as he tried to make his way to his stress-relieving drink. He was just about to break free from the crowd when someone grabbed on to the back of his shirt and pulled him straight back in.

"Neji, check it out!" exclaimed a peppy, obnoxious voice. Neji felt like he should buy the can of soda just so he can cut his throat with the opened tab. "

"Unhand me," he demanded as Naruto seemed to split through the sea like a hot knife through melting butter. "I don't care about whatever you want to show me."

At that, Naruto got a sinisterly foxy smile. "Oh, I bet you do." He lowered his voice, as if about to tell a big secret, and whispered uncomfortably close to Neji's unprotected ear canal, "It involves Hinata and Tenten."

Neji froze, the angry black entity in his stomach enlarging as it made his gut feel ill and his throat close up. Quickly, Neji recounted what day it was, and visibly grimaced when he was reminded it was Thursday. He had been so intent on forgetting it he had completely misinterpreted the enthusiasm for being something else. He did not realize everyone was so hyped because they wanted to see what Tenten would try to impress her girlfriend with next. Neji wanted to cry as he thought about it. Tenten had a girlfriend. A _girlfriend_. As in, the gender that produces children and grow breasts.

He never had a chance in the first place, and it hurt worse than he ever imagined.

Shutting down, Neji wasn't able to see how Naruto's eyes focused intently on the pair in the center of the clearing. Teachers were there on the outskirts of the congregation, eyeing the duo like hawks to ensure nothing inappropriate happened. Some of them cheered quietly while others looked on with extreme disdain. The principle, Tsunade, had a little smirk on her face.

Tenten was dressed normally, and had not brought a beat up instrument of any kind. Her hair was in its regular buns and her shirt was baggy along with her pants. She smiled as usual as Hinata stood before her confidently. She was not blushing or stuttering. In fact, she did not even appear nervous once since she began dating Tenten, which was deduced to the older girl's positive effects than anything else.

There was no fireworks going off or dramatic tension between the two. Tenten had told Hinata that she has something to tell her in the quad, and like magic everyone was watching them.

Now, looking around for a bit, Tenten said casually, "Hinata, my present to you this Thursday is this." And after the collective gasp, Tenten reached into her pocket and...

Pulled out a sharpened pencil.

A silent, collective "What?" resounded through the student body. Immediately after the full moment of shock, murmurs began to crop up as Tenten and Hinata continued to smile at one another with the pencil held out between them in Tenten's dextrous grip.

It was a boring old #2 pencil, simply sharpened and not even used. There was no special connection at all, and it was a severe letdown from all of the many surprised that had previous occurred.

"_That's it?_" Ino could be heard screeching, a loud cry of indignant fury. She wanted something straight out of a sappy romance novel! Something cliche like all the other gifts had been. A pencil was not cliche! A pencil was not romantic! Hell, a pencil wasn't even something you'd give a dog! Tenten nodded to the crowd, as if it was obvious. Oddly, Hinata was not the least big offended as she grinned tenderly. The two made no move to embrace at all, simply waiting as the uproar began to get louder around them.

Neji felt Naruto's fist tighten around his shirt, which was probably wrinkled, and turned to the pencil Tenten was holding. He stared at it a bit, before coming to a realization and looking up -

Within an instant, right before the students were ready to maul Tenten for her horrible gift, Tenten's hand whipped around and she tossed the pencil high into the air. Everyone's eyes followed it, and loud gasps could be heard as a large lavender balloon was popped right above the couple and a bouquet of twelve luscious red roses fell into Hinata's waiting arms. Her grin widened as practically everyone around them went berserk.

Red means passionate love, is all Neji can think of as he watched the Ino-Shika-Chou trio pounce on Tenten for fooling everyone for a second. Ino was squealing about the entire performance while Shikamaru snapped pictures of Hinata holding the bouquet, who simply gave grinned and held up a card attached to the flowers for the camera.

On it was written, "_Let's go to the fair this weekend__"_ in Tenten's loopy scrawl, which Ino read and immediately proclaimed to the rest of the student body. A very raucous chorus of jubilation bellowed out in return.

Great, his day was even worse. Neji shrugged off Naruto's suddenly lax grip, pushing the blond towards the happy couple and making his way through the elated sea of students to go get that drink. He wasn't old enough to drown his sorrows with alcohol, so he would have to settle for diet pepsi instead.

As Neji trudged his heavy soul back to the gym classroom, images of the coming evening were already springing forth in his head. Hinata will come to his room, wearing a nice dress asking to either borrow money or his phone or both again (Hanabi had still lost both hers and her sister's phones, which was astounding because she wasn't this bad with her things before). She will ask him not on how she looks, but if he knows Tenten will like it, because he's Tenten's best friend. Neji will reply like last time, that Tenten was a person who judged based on personality and anything Hinata will wear would undoubtedly be good enough for her even if she came wearing a burlap sack. Hinata will thank him kindly and leave her older cousin to mourn into his pillow silently and alone as she has the night of her life with the girl of his dreams.

Right before Neji began the ascent up the staircase to the room Lee would be in, undoubtedly having already known of the news and ready to talk his sanity away, a hand landed on his shoulder. Neji turned around quicker than expected, coldly shrugging the offending object off to glare at whoever had dared come after him. It it was Naruto he'd punch the blathering idiot upside his stupid blond head -

"Touchy," Shikamaru drawled as he put his wounded hand back into his pockets.

Neji frowned, not in the mood for the other male's talks. It was obvious he wanted to be alone, or at least enveloped in his hideously mind-numbing essays where the thought of Tenten making out with Hinata was forced to come second to something like Lennon or Stalin. "I don't have time to waste on you," Neji said plainly, beginning to walk once more.

Shikamaru, unfazed by the ice in his friend's words, continued as if he wasn't just brushed off, "We, as in Me, Chouji, Kiba, and Naruto, are planning on spying on HinaTen during their date to the fair. We want you to come along."

Images of Tenten and Hinata together, smiling, laughing _kissing_ invaded Neji's mind as he shook his head once. "I refuse." He was able to take another step before Shikamaru's next words stopped him dead on his feet.

"You should," Shikamaru said, fixing his gaze on the back of Neji's head perceptively. "Because Tenten and Hinata aren't going to the fair to be on a date. They're going to kill someone."


End file.
